One funky train, powered by steam, of course.
There's a back story here.
Basically, this museum, my "Cape Geriardeau Steam Musuem" route, acquired a Victorian Railways J class 2-8-0 from a scrap dealer. The story is that, in 1959, a private collector in Colorado (possibly Bob Richardson of CRM fame) approached VR to see if he could buy one of the J class engines to run around his property. However, when the engine was shipped to the US, it was impounded at the Port of Los Angeles, where it was stored in a warehouse for forty years before being sold to a scrap dealer. In 2005, the museum found the machine rusting away and bought it for 4'000 dollars. Restored in record time, the machine is the star of the museum, and is often requested for charter trains.
Also, you will notice that the engine is J555, but her tender is numbered J527. The story is that, the day before the engine was supposed to be shut down and sent to Sydney for shipping, the engine backed off a siding at high speed and rammed her tender into a concrete blockhouse, destroying it completely. The railway had just scrapped J527, so her tender was coupled to J555 for the trip to Sydney. The owner knew about it and never cared, for he never got his engine!! When the museum bought the engine, they left the J527 number plate on the tender. its an interesting back story the shop crews love to tell.
I,love very much this this picture
